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SFloridaGardener
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Trinidad Scorpion Peppers
First year growing these, almost ready!
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pepperhead212
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How long have those been growing, SFG? I tried some several years ago, but didn't get many, and none ripe until 5 1/2 months after starting seeds. I'm trying another variety this season, as I had two other late varieties (mustard habs and 7 pot Jonah) I started in early Feb '15, and got huge numbers of peppers starting around 7-4, in an Earthbox. This season I'm only putting 2/EB, as 3 was too crowded, even though it didn't seem to slow them down!
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HoneyBerry
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Very nice pepper plant!
I thought that Habaneros were hot until I just read about your Trinidad Scorpion, which is just one step down from the hottest pepper in the world, the California Reaper. I can't even imagine that much heat. I was so affected when I handled Habaneros, and they aren't nearly as hot as the Trinidad Scorpion or the California Reaper.
I thought that Habaneros were hot until I just read about your Trinidad Scorpion, which is just one step down from the hottest pepper in the world, the California Reaper. I can't even imagine that much heat. I was so affected when I handled Habaneros, and they aren't nearly as hot as the Trinidad Scorpion or the California Reaper.
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SFloridaGardener
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I bought the Trinidad scorpion and a Carolina reaper at a pepper festive at one of my local nurseries in October. They were about 1 foot tall then. Didn't seem to do much for a while but over the last few weeks the Trinidad took off. The reaper looks good and is growing about the same size but only has flowers and no fruit yet.
Have tried any other really hot varieties..just chili pepper, Ancho and cubanella but they were hydroponic
Have tried any other really hot varieties..just chili pepper, Ancho and cubanella but they were hydroponic
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HoneyBerry
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I was reading about how the hotness is variable and depends upon what the plant is fed. I guess that makes sense, but it is something I hadn't thought about until I read about it. I'm a fan of hot peppers. A while back, I was reading about how the chemical dulls the nerves over time, which explains why some people can tolerate more heat than others. Those who eat lots of hot peppers develop a tolerance for the heat. I tried to make a muscle rub from habaneros once, but it didn't work out.
Your scorpion is a beautiful plant. It has inspired me. I think I will try to grow some this summer. Mmmmm . . . hot sauce.
Your scorpion is a beautiful plant. It has inspired me. I think I will try to grow some this summer. Mmmmm . . . hot sauce.
Trinidad scorpions were easier to grow than Bhut Jolokia, but I found that the super hot peppers don't germinate well unless it is really warm. Closer to 80 degrees. When I try to germinate them at 65 degrees, the germination is not as good. The Bhut Jolokia is stingy with seeds so I don't like to waste any.
Hotness is variable by cultivar but also by how stable the variety is. I have had jalapeno's (M) which are supposed to be hot be very variable with only one in 5 peppers on the same plant having any kind of heat and I have had Bhut Jolokia with very little heat. The more stable peppers like serrano that has not been hybridized as much is much more consistent in heat.
Hotness is variable by cultivar but also by how stable the variety is. I have had jalapeno's (M) which are supposed to be hot be very variable with only one in 5 peppers on the same plant having any kind of heat and I have had Bhut Jolokia with very little heat. The more stable peppers like serrano that has not been hybridized as much is much more consistent in heat.
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pepperhead212
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I think something that results in the extreme variability of some peppers is that many seeds are being saved from peppers that aren't isolated from other peppers, and they cross so easily. Even commercially sold peppers are often this way. This wouldn't explain why peppers vary so much on the same plant, only why you get several different plants from one envelope of seeds. I always isolate a branch of flower buds, before they open, then polinate them, and when the peppers form I remove the bags, label the branch, and save the seeds from the ripe peppers. This way, whenever I save pepper seeds, they will not be a cross.
I think it is because the newer peppers have been bred to so many other hybrids that the parentage becomes very muddled and the more distant ancestor traits are showing up. That is why it takes a few generations before a hybrid becomes stable.
But it is also true that peppers are promiscuous and cross easily within their families. If you are going to breed them, then they need to be isolated and bred a few generations to make sure the traits are stable. A lot of times that does not happen and plants are not isolated well and they cross or the wrong seeds end up in a package. Jalapeno M though was the one that was by far the worst. I bought the seeds from a company and they were not saved seeds and I tried different packages of seeds from 2 different companies (although, the way seed companies are they may have actually been repackaged), I still got very inconsistent heat on the Jalapenos. Even the ones that were hot were not at hot as I thought M should be. Most of the peppers on M had no heat at all. I switched to a local jalapeno called Wailua pepper. It is an older cultivar but the heat level is consistant and hotter than M. Of the Bhut Jolokia I planted, only one was not hot. It had some spice but not what you would expect from Jolokia. It didn't even makes my hands burn. I checked with other people who grow them and they said that they have had that result too where some were not as hot as a jolokia should be. Someone knows I grow peppers so he gave me a Hawaiian/jolokia hybrid to try.
But it is also true that peppers are promiscuous and cross easily within their families. If you are going to breed them, then they need to be isolated and bred a few generations to make sure the traits are stable. A lot of times that does not happen and plants are not isolated well and they cross or the wrong seeds end up in a package. Jalapeno M though was the one that was by far the worst. I bought the seeds from a company and they were not saved seeds and I tried different packages of seeds from 2 different companies (although, the way seed companies are they may have actually been repackaged), I still got very inconsistent heat on the Jalapenos. Even the ones that were hot were not at hot as I thought M should be. Most of the peppers on M had no heat at all. I switched to a local jalapeno called Wailua pepper. It is an older cultivar but the heat level is consistant and hotter than M. Of the Bhut Jolokia I planted, only one was not hot. It had some spice but not what you would expect from Jolokia. It didn't even makes my hands burn. I checked with other people who grow them and they said that they have had that result too where some were not as hot as a jolokia should be. Someone knows I grow peppers so he gave me a Hawaiian/jolokia hybrid to try.
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pepperhead212
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That makes me think of another problem - sellers trying to make everything a hybrid, so you can't save the seeds! Many years ago, when Red Savina was the hottest, I started noticing variances in the plants, even in the color of the peppers! All would turn red, but some would start out almost yellow, while most were dark green. Soon, it was listed as a hybrid. Now, if you have the hottest pepper in the world, how can it stay the hottest, if you make a hybrid out of it?
Now there are hotter peppers than the bhut jolokia, so it could get hotter if you hybridized it with them, but I think what they did (though not 'fessing up to it) was to breed the heat out, so they could put them on supermarket shelves, without lawsuits! Same with habaneros many years ago - what I would find in friend's kitchens, from the supermarkets, would have far less heat, as well as not nearly as much of the habanero flavor. And jalapeños had the heat (and often, the flavor) bred out for commercial use, to make poppers, IMO. This is when mild jalapeños began appearing in markets, but then, you never knew, and some could be even hotter than normal, again, like you said, due to hybridizing.
This is why I buy very few peppers, except for sweet peppers! And dried pepper varieties which I don't grow. You just never know what you are getting.
Now there are hotter peppers than the bhut jolokia, so it could get hotter if you hybridized it with them, but I think what they did (though not 'fessing up to it) was to breed the heat out, so they could put them on supermarket shelves, without lawsuits! Same with habaneros many years ago - what I would find in friend's kitchens, from the supermarkets, would have far less heat, as well as not nearly as much of the habanero flavor. And jalapeños had the heat (and often, the flavor) bred out for commercial use, to make poppers, IMO. This is when mild jalapeños began appearing in markets, but then, you never knew, and some could be even hotter than normal, again, like you said, due to hybridizing.
This is why I buy very few peppers, except for sweet peppers! And dried pepper varieties which I don't grow. You just never know what you are getting.